The increasing demand for energy and the use of finite resources for energy production have led to the use of increased technology for the production, transmission, distribution and consumption of energy in order to make, distribute and use energy more efficiently and wisely. Previously, a utility charged a flat rate for power consumption. However, as energy prices increase and energy use fluctuates throughout the day, utilities have become more sophisticated with regard to variable rates relating to the energy supplied to customers.
Power consumption, and more particularly power consumption of household consumer appliances at a location is generally measured using a utility usage meter. Utility usage meters are limited to monitoring the overall power consumption at a single location. They are unable to distinguish the power consumption for each individual appliance. Moreover, utility usage meters require additional hardware and an increase in circuit design complexity.
Thus, a need exists for an improved power consumption measuring system. A system and method that can measure power consumption of a single home appliance would be particularly useful.